Launches and sign-ups 25 July 2012
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (19 July to 25 July 2012).
Exclusive: Zynga opens real-money poker tender
GTECH G2 and Playtech confirmed to have submitted bids to provide social giant with cash poker platform.
Zynga has opened a tender for a real-money poker platform, with a number of leading egaming suppliers understood to be competing for the potentially lucrative contract, eGaming Review can exclusively reveal.
eGR has learned that the likes of GTECH G2 and Playtech are confirmed to have submitted bids to supply the platform, and that the process was opened before Zynga’s interest in acquiring the bwin.party-owned Ongame poker network emerged.
A senior source within one of the bidding companies confirmed the tender, but refused to reveal whether it was at an advanced stage, or which channels the deal would cover, though it is thought to cover online and mobile.
However, a separate source said that the vast majority of the industry’s leading suppliers have been in touch with Zynga regarding the tender. “They [Zynga] are likely to be a significant player, hence all are interested,” eGR‘s source explained. eGR understands that Intralot and Microgaming are also in the running.
Exclusive: South Point Poker “will be first real-money site in US”
Casino veteran and CEO Michael Gaughan says operator will have head start of up to three months, with site due to go live in September.
South Point Poker will be the first legal real-money online poker site in the US when it goes live in September, its CEO has told eGaming Review.
The Vegas-based company’s application for an online poker licence is set to be heard by the Nevada Control Board (GCB) next month, when it will receive a recommendation for approval before heading to the state’s Gaming Commission. And according to CEO Michael Gaughan, South Point’s gaming system has already been approved by an independent testing laboratory, meaning it can go live as soon as it is licensed to do so.
Gaming Hall of Fame inductee Gaughan told eGR that “a few little issues” “ such as integrating a payment processing system “ are still to be ironed out before SouthPointPoker.com can go live with free-play and browser-based real-money offerings for Nevada players.
“We’re finishing up our second wave of testing and so far no problems,” he said. “I may not be the biggest or the best but hopefully I’ll have a head start by two or three months.”
Seven days in launches and sign-ups
Social Casino Intelligence launches
Social Casino Intelligence, the first monthly magazine offering dedicated coverage of the social casino sector, will launch this week, eGaming Reviewcan officially announce.
With social gaming becoming an increasingly important consideration for egaming operators, SCi will provide breaking industry news, expert analysis and exclusive industry data to readers as the only publication of its kind, and the latest magazine to be added to the eGR stable following the launch of eGR North America in March this year.
The launch issue of SCi will feature the inaugural SCi Power 25, ranking the most powerful and influential social casino operators in the sector. Similar toeGR‘s Power 50 rankings, now in its ninth year, the Power 25 runs down the companies and individuals leading the way in the social casino industry, as well as those hot on their heels and the ones-to-watch.
Probability acquires Italian-facing mobile specialist
Mobile operator Probability has announced the acquisition of Playyoo, a Switzerland-based B2B provider which is licensed to supply mobile games to operators in the Italian market, for an initial consideration of £1.8m.
It will be financed by the issue of 2.4m ordinary shares, with a further issuing of up to 1.7m dependent on Playyoo’s 2013 performance.
The AAMS-certified company offers games including blackjack and slots for a variety of mobile devices, with versions developed for the operating systems of Apple, Android and Samsung smartphones. Its blackjack game has been approved by the Apple App Store in Italy.
Scientific Games acquires online betting provider Parspro
Scientific Games has acquired the assets of Icelandic online and mobile sports betting solutions provider Parspro for an undisclosed amount.
The deal will see the US lottery specialist integrate Parspro’s scalable system, which provides lotteries and sportsbook operators with the ability to launch and run an online betting site including software, state-of-the-art hosting, traditional sports wagering and live betting propositions.
WMS launches second social casino on Facebook
WMS’ newly created egaming division Williams Interactive has released a Jackpot Party-branded social casino on Facebook.
Jackpot Party social casino includes six of WMS’ slot themes including Zeus II and Invaders from the Planet Moolah, while the company explained in a statement that more of its games are scheduled to be added to the casino in the future. The casino allows its users to play one game initially, with the chance to take part in bonus rounds, win credits and unlock the remaining games upon completion.
Intralot powers Betsson’s Italian launch
Intralot will provide the technology behind Betsson’s Italian-facing online casino, StarCasino.it, it has announced this morning.
The agreement will see Intralot provide the Swedish operator with its gaming platform, as well as the software and system infrastructure to connect to Sogei, the IT body that provides technology support to the Italian government in order to monitor and assess issues such as taxation.
Bwin signs Man Utd betting partnership
Bwin.party brand bwin has signed a deal to become the official betting and gaming partner of English Premier League football club Manchester United for an undisclosed amount.
The operator replaces Betfair, which had a similar agreement in place since 2009, with the club becoming the first partner to take advantage of Betfair’s App Cloud in April this year.
Odds for Manchester United games are now featured on the ‘betting and gaming section’ of the club’s homepage, which links through to bwin’s sports, poker, bingo and casino offerings.
Mypok merges with PokerXtrem
PokerXtrem and MyPok, two of the sites on Microgaming and 888’s joint dot.fr network, have announced that they are to merge.
Players that hold accounts with PokerXtrem, founded by International Stadiums Poker Tour chief executive Prosper Masquelier, will see their balances transferred to new or existing Mypok accounts, depending on which is appropriate, at the end of July.
Soccer Millionaire chief leads PickLive buyout
Real-time fantasy sports business PickLive limited has been acquired by a group of private investors led by David Galan, chief executive of Soccer Millionaire’s B2B arm Sports Millions.
The group intends to offer the flagship PickLive game to operators on a white-label basis, as well as expanding it beyond the existing football-only offering. Among other things it is targeting the US market where fantasy sports is among those forms of egaming which are legal.
Smart Gaming Group has entered into a partnership with German land-based casino Spielbank Schleswig-Holstein which will see the live casino provider supplement its offering by drawing on the Kiel-based venue’s table games.